The Official Blog of the Gwinnett Braves, Triple-A Affiliate of the Atlanta Braves.

G-Braves Looking To Extend Win-Streak Monday

What a way to end a homestand than with a doubleheader the night before the team leaves for an eight-game road trip? It is the final day of this enormous 11-game homestand from Coolray Field and your first place Gwinnett Braves (23-13) couldn’t be feeling much better about themselves these days.

Currently, the G-Braves are 5-4 on the homestand after splitting a two-game set with the Charlotte Knights, losing three of four to Buffalo and winning all three against Toledo so far. In 2012, the G-Braves are a perfect 6-0 against the Toledo Mud Hens as they get set to do battle in a Monday double-dip. First pitch is scheduled for 5:05 p.m. and the second game will begin approximately 30 minutes after the first game has concluded.

The newest G-Brave Felix Pie will be making his Braves debut Monday night as he is slotted in the No. 5 spot in the batting order and set to start in right field. Pie was a former top prospect for the Chicago Cubs from 2003-2007, before jumping ship to the Baltimore Orioles organization. There, he played three seasons at the Major League level with the AL East Orioles. He batted a career-high .274 in 2010, his second season with the ballclub.

Photo courtesy of Karl Moore

The first place IL South G-Braves stole the first game of a twinbill, 3-2, from the first place IL West Mud Hens on Friday night. Luis Durango cracked the game-winning hit with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning as both teams were stuck in a tie. With the RBI, the speedster has four in his last three games and is also leading the International League in stolen bases with 18 in 20 attempts. Jair Jurrjens (2-0) went the distance for the complete game win, while allowing just two runs.

In Game 2 Friday night, Gwinnett took advantage of Toledo pitching mistakes from the outset and never looked back. After scoring a few runs in the first inning, a bases loaded walk to Christian Marrero in the fourth inning opened up the floodgates. Anthony Varvaro made the spot-start and Erik Cordier grabbed the win as the G-Braves pitching was stellar for both games of the doubleheader. Joey Terdoslavich and Marrero each had multiple-RBI games in the second contest as they led the Gwinnett offensive charge.

Stefan Gartrell was named the International League Batter of the Week on Monday and he continued his torrid pace over the last three games. The slugger has five home runs in his last nine games, including 12 hits, six runs scored, 12 RBI, an .850 slugging percentage and a walk-off home run to beat Buffalo on Thursday afternoon. Gartrell rose his batting average from .165 to .216 in a matter of days and is only looking to keep climbing from there.

Toledo Mudhens (20-16, 2nd IL West) vs Gwinnett (23-13, 1st IL South)

The No. 2 hitter in Toledo’s line-up for Monday’s game and the leadoff man for the three previous games, Justin Henry, has been on fire lately for the Mud Hens. The third baseman has reached base nine times in three games and will be looking to do more damage in two more games from Coolray tonight.

It will be interesting to see what the Toledo Mud Hens have in store for the G-Braves on Monday. The No. 1 overall prospect in the Detroit Tigers system, Jacob Turner, will be taking the mound against the G-Braves in his Triple-A debut at Coolray Field. Turner was just promoted from Single-A Lakeland as he completely skipped Double-A. In all liklihood this will be a spot-start for the righty and will be demoted to Double-A following the game. However, with a dominant performance he could prove his organization right and stick around for awhile. Either way, it should be exciting to witness Monday night.

Monday, May 14: Game 1 – First Pitch 5:05 p.m. @ Coolray Field

Game 2 – First pitch approximately 30 minutes after the first game has ended

Both games are scheduled to last seven innings. The International League South Division-leading G-Braves (23-13) will likely start right-hander Eric Junge (3-3, 3.09) in game one and left-hander Yohan Flande (1-2, 2.93) in game two. Toledo is slated to start the Detroit Tigers No. 1 prospect in the form of right-hander Jacob Turner (0-0, 0.00) alongside left-hander Casey Crosby (3-2, 4.55). Both games will be broadcast on WDUN 550 AM and 102.9 FM with Tony Schiavone calling the play-by-play.

Sunday’s Mother’s Day Diamond Dig has been rescheduled for Sunday, May 27, following Gwinnett’s 2:05 PM game against Rochester.

Monday is another Kids Eat Free night at Coolray Field, where all kids 12 and under will receive a voucher for a free hot dog, a bag of chips and a small soda.

Tickets for all Gwinnett Braves home games are on sale now at the Coolray Field Box Office. Call (678) 277-0340 or visit gwinnettbraves.com for more information.

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